Page 54 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men
“Pick a better woman, and maybe we won’t even notice you exist,” Georgina replies with an arrogant smile.
I give Theo a startled look. “I can’t believe you dated her.”
“Worst chapter of my life, by far,” he sighs deeply.
Georgina hears us, a grin slitting across her heavily made-up face. “You sure loved taking me wherever there was a flat surface available. There isn’t a single counter in my kitchen or yours, for that matter, that didn’t get a print of my ass at one point or another. Yet now that you’re slumming it with this beached whale, you’re too good for me?”
“What is this ruckus?” Mom hisses as she joins the verbal skirmish, seemingly out of nowhere.
Silence falls around her as I look at her, then at my sister.
“She started it,” I say, hating that I sound like a petulant child.
Our mother shakes her head. “I could hear your voices all the way from the dessert bar.” She pauses and gives Crystal and Georgina a frown. “You left your dates there, completely unattended, by the way.”
“They can wait,” Crystal rolls her eyes.
“Or you two can just scram,” Dominic suggests. “You’ve made enough noise for one evening, and we have more important things to discuss.”
“Interesting seeing you here,” Mom tells Dominic. “You’re quite shameless, accompanying my daughter like this in public.”
“Like what, exactly?” I ask. “What are you implying, Mom?”
“Nothing. But our lawyers will have a field day with this.”
Click. Click.Georgina and Crystal get to snapping quick photos of us with their phones, while Mom measures me from head to toe. My face burns, my blood boiling to a steady simmer while my skin feels cold all over.
“Not that I’m surprised. I didn’t expect anything more from you,” Mom adds, giving me a disgusted look. “You could’ve picked a different dress, though. This one makes you look twice your size.”
“And you need to go easy on those fillers, Mrs. Astor-Baldwin, your face is proof that more isn’t better,” August cuts in.
She gives him an outraged glare. “Excuse me?”
“Humiliating your daughter in public might’ve been your go-to choice of entertainment in the past, but that stopped the minute we became a part of her life,” August says. “I suggest the three of you not-so-fine ladies turn around and enjoy the rest of your evening as far away from us as possible. But don’t forget to donate to Penny’s noble cause. Paying for the plates is simply the starting point.”
“You don’t want the guests to think you’re poor,” Theo chuckles dryly.
“Not sure we want to be here anymore,” Crystal scoffs. “This whole event pretty much blows.”
“Then leave and make it better,” Penny snaps.
That gets her a shocked gasp from my mother, while Crystal and Georgina put on their most offended expressions, like something out of a comedic tragedy.
Penny waves them off. “Don’t give me those shocked looks because you’re reaping the consequences of your own actions. All you had to do was show up, clink a few glasses, exchange some pleasantries with other guests, sign a fucking check, and go home. That was it. The one thing you’re actually good at. And you couldn’t even do that.”
“Penelope, I’m dismayed that you would speak to us like this,” Mom says. “At this point, I have a mind of canceling our yearly donation to your charity foundation.”
“That’s fine,” Dominic replies, then looks at Penny. “We’ll double whatever they were donating.”
“Triple it,” Theo chimes in. “I’ve got a separate donation fund I’ve been meaning to redirect toward more meaningful causes.”
“Mom, please,” I plead, trying to appeal to the last sliver of common sense she might still have. “Don’t do this. Don’t stoop this low. Please.”
“Until you clean up your act and return to the civilized world, you and I have nothing left to discuss,” she tells me. “Crystal, Georgina, come. I’ve had enough of this vulgarity for one evening.”
“Good riddance,” Penny mutters, arms crossed, a grim look settling on her face as Todd moves closer and puts his arm around her shoulders. “Sorry you had to deal with that.”
“It’s okay. I’ve dealt with worse. Wait until you meet my family,” he jokes.
